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Congress leader K Muraleedharan on Sunday alleged attempts to divert attention from the Sabarimala gold robbery case, claiming the government is exerting pressure on the Special Investigating Team (SIT) to secure bail for the accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, and others, while protecting key individuals.
He said there is a clear attempt to protect the real culprits. Addressing reporters here, Muraleedharan said, "There is a deliberate attempt to divert public attention from the Sabarimala gold robbery issue. There is a strong suspicion that government machinery is exerting pressure on the SIT to secure bail for Unnikrishnan Potti and others who are currently in jail. We suspect that this is part of a larger effort to protect certain individuals, including former minister Kadakampally Surendran." Muraleedharan further accused authorities of attempting to protect certain individuals, including former minister Kadakampally Surendran, by portraying the Thantri as having committed a serious offence. "There is an attempt to portray the Thantri as if he has committed some grave crime, with the ulterior motive of shielding the present minister and former ministers. We will strongly oppose such moves. Irrespective of political affiliation, if the faith of devotees is undermined, it must be questioned. There is no need to give such issues a political colour... At present, we have serious doubts regarding the Sabarimala investigation. We believe there is a concerted effort to ensure bail for Unnikrishnan Potti and to protect those within the Devaswom Board," he said. Expressing doubts about the investigation's fairness, the Congress leader stated, "When the UDF was in power, the Devaswom management committees were not exclusively UDF-controlled bodies. They were committees where the UDF had a majority, mainly because the nominations of Hindu MLAs have traditionally come from the Left. Since the Muslim League does not have voting rights in this matter, the majority of Hindu MLAs have historically been from the Left, dating back to the time of K Karunakaran... There is a clear attempt to protect the real culprits, and we will respond strongly against it. We will not support any attempt to divert attention from the core issue. It must also be noted that the 2017 Vaji vahanam transfer has already been upheld by the High Court." The Sabarimala gold controversy centres on allegations of irregularities in the gold plating at the Sabarimala temple. This situation arose from a 1998 donation of 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper by industrialist Vijay Mallya, intended for the cladding of the sanctum sanctorum and the wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala. Earlier, the Special Investigation Team probing the Sabarimala gold theft case made another arrest, taking former Travancore Devaswom Board member Vijayakumar into custody from Thiruvananthapuram. (ANI)
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